LITTLE ROCK - The UALR swimming and diving team will honor its three seniors when host its final home meet of the 2012 season on Friday at 3 p.m. at the Donaghey Center Natatorium. Friday's dual meet against Vanderbilt will close out the regular season for the Trojans and will serve as their final tune-up before the start of the Sun Belt Championships Feb. 22-25 in Rockwall, Texas.
"Spirits are usually high in the last meet of the season with conference being on the horizon," said head coach Amy Burgess. "Add to that our senior meet and we should see some exciting races this Friday."
Friday's meet will honor the Trojans' three seniors, Megan Nelson, Jenna Rutecki and Audra Stalzer, who will be swimming in their final regular-season meet.
"The focus going into Friday is to swim for the seniors, Megan, Audra and Jenna," said Burgess. "They will be terribly missed after this season and have had a huge impact on where our program is today. Dedicating the meet to them will add extra incentive against a strong Vanderbilt team. I think we will see some good swims and races come out of the meet."
The Trojans enter Friday's meet on two weeks rest, with their most recent action coming in a dual meet at North Texas on Jan. 14. UALR fell to the Mean Green by a score of 137-124, but garnered three individual wins in their one day of competition. Sophomores Kara Raney and Holly Myers took first place in the 100 and 200 backstroke events, while junior Amber Kelly secured the third Trojan victory in the 200 butterfly.
Raney's win in the 100 back (1:00.02) put her better than a full second and a half ahead of the second-place finisher from North Texas. The Kingwood, Texas, native added a second-place finish in the 50 free (25.37) later in the day.
Myers earned her 200 back victory in a time of 2:11.38, with Rutecki (2:20.66) and sophomore Hope Myers (2:26.13) placing third and fourth, respectively, in the race. Kelly's win in the 200 fly (2:10.98) was her first individual victory of the year. The junior went on to add a runner-up finish in the 100 fly (59.65).
Freshmen Lexie Keller and Meghan Petersen combined for four runner-up finishes at North Texas. Keller placed second in the 100 (54.01) and 200 free (1:57.90) events, while Petersen picked up second-place finishes in the 100 (1:11.66) and 200 breaststroke (2:36.68) events.
Vanderbilt's most recent action came in a loss at South Carolina on Jan. 28. Chrissy Oberg picked up two wins for the 'Dores at USC, taking first place in the 100 and 200 backstroke events. Both UALR and Vanderbilt competed earlier this season at the WKU-hosted Hilltopper Invitational, with Vanderbilt placing second and UALR placing fourth.
Start time for Friday's meet is set for 3 p.m., with the honoring of the seniors scheduled to take place immediately before the start of the races.
(Source: University of Arkansas at Little Rock Athletics)